Wolfpack lures O'Brien away from B.C.

North Carolina State wrapped up a quick search for a football coach by hiring Tom O'Brien away from conference rival Boston College on Friday.

The 58-year-old O'Brien coached the Eagles for the past 10 years, compiling a 75-45 record and appearing in eight straight bowl games. This season, he led the Eagles to a 9-3 record and an appearance in the Meineke Bowl against Navy later this month.

O'Brien replaces Chuck Amato _ a former Wolfpack linebacker _ who was fired the day after his team closed the season with seven straight losses to finish 3-9. Amato was 49-37 and led the Wolfpack to five bowl games in seven seasons, but he went 25-31 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and never finished higher than fourth.

O'Brien's move to Raleigh would mark only the second time in conference history that a football coach left one ACC school to lead another in the next season, the league said. The other time came when Jim Tatum moved from Maryland to North Carolina in 1956.

O'Brien signed a seven-year deal that will pay him a base salary of $240,000 and a total of $1.1 million a year, N.C. State said.